Technic Today, Part 1: B-flat Trumpet (Cornet) Book

Technic Today, Part 1 gives you a focused, pedagogically sound way to build trumpet fundamentals without breaking from your regular method book work. Ployhar designed this supplement to sit naturally alongside Band Today, Part One, so students are reinforcing the same technical concepts they're learning in ensemble without redundant or conflicting material. The 24-page format respects class time while delivering measurable progress in tone, intonation, and facility.

Straightforward and purposeful. This is not flashy or novelty-driven; it is honest, methodical work designed to build the physical and musical habits that make good trumpet playing possible. Pages move progressively from foundational tone work through increasingly complex technical patterns, always in service of real musicianship.

Trumpet and cornet players in intermediate band programs who are working through Band Today, Part One and need structured daily technique work. This book is essential for any director who wants students to build trumpet-specific facility (scales, arpeggios, articulation patterns) in parallel with their ensemble playing rather than leaving technical development to chance.

• Start each session with the longest tones in the book to establish pitch center and breath control; these pages anchor the technical work that follows.
• Space the technical exercises across multiple rehearsals rather than attempting them all in one session; distributed practice builds stronger muscle memory.
• Use a tuner during the technique work to help students hear the relationship between embouchure shape and pitch stability.

Assign pages from Technic Today as individual practice material that students complete between rehearsals, using the same sequence and timing as Band Today, Part One so the two materials inform each other. Alternatively, spend 5-10 minutes at the start of rehearsal on a single technical exercise from this book, rotating through different pages each week to reinforce patterns students encounter in the method book arrangements.

• Long tone control and steady pitch production
• Major and minor scales in multiple keys
• Arpeggio construction and facility
• Articulation clarity and consistency
• Interval accuracy and intonation awareness
• Technical fluency across the range
• Breath support and phrasing control